


The Beard Incident

by turtlewithatardis



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Fluff, Humour, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-18
Updated: 2014-02-18
Packaged: 2018-01-13 00:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1205770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turtlewithatardis/pseuds/turtlewithatardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hotch puts his relationship with Anderson in jeopardy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beard Incident

Rain pelted down on Anderson as he ran from his car to the porch. He slid his key into the lock and opened the door. He stepped inside and shivered as his body adjusted to the heat from the house. He was caught by surprise when something propelled itself at him. He looked down to see Jack looking up at him with a huge smile that had been reserved for his Dad, his Pop, and the new addition, his sister.

"What’re you up to?" Anderson asked, following Jack as he ran back towards the giggling he heard come from the living room.

"Me and Lil are playing hide-and-seek!" Jack told him.

"Hide-and-seek? Bud, she’s only little. How can she hide?" Anderson said, kneeling down and picking up the squealing child and cuddling her.

"Watch, watch. Lily. Lilllyyyy." Once Jack had his sisters attention he placed his hands over his face.

"Where’s he gone? Where’s Jack?" Anderson said as he bounced the child in his arms, smiling when Lily reached forward in an effort to find Jack.

"Boo!" Jack exclaimed as he uncovered his face, a smile instantly appearing on Lily’s face, accompanied with her giggles. Jack and Anderson laughed as the child grabbed at Jack. 

"Where’s Dad?" Anderson said, handing Lily over to her brother to keep the child happy.

"Upstairs. He went up just before you got in and he said he’d be down in a few minutes."

"You’ll be OK if I go up for a minute?"

"Yup! We’ll play hide-and-seek. It’s Lily’s turn now."

Anderson smiled, ruffled Jacks hair and placed a kiss on his daughters head, and pulled himself up from the floor. He headed towards the stairs, listening to Jack trying to teach his 5 month old sister how to play hide and seek. However, the smile he’d been wearing slowly faded when he reached the bedroom and heard a buzzing come from the bathroom.

No. No, no, no. Not today. No.

Anderson strode towards the bathroom and pushed the door open, stopping when his suspicions where confirmed.

"Hey there," Hotch said, half of his beard full of shaving cream and the other half gone, most likely due to the work of the razor Hotch held in his left hand.

Anderson stared at him in disbelief. And slight dejection. If he was being honest, it was 50-50. 

"What’s wrong?" Hotch asked when he noted the look on Anderson’s face. "Are the kids OK? I’ve only been up here for a minute. Oh God, some-"

"They’re fine," Anderson said, stopping Hotch from running past him to get downstairs.

"You’re sure?" At Anderson’s slow nod Hotch continued. "Then why do you look so… devastated." Hotch said, picking the razor up from the counter where he’d tossed it.

"I can’t… why? Why did are you doing this?" Anderson asked, a touch of pain in his voice.

Hotch looked at him from the corner of his eye. “What? What’d I do?” he asked.

"Maybe it’s something I did… Did I hurt you? Annoy you?" Anderson said, to Hotch or to himself he wasn’t sure. "Am I being punished?"

Hotch put the razor back on the counter and turned to face Anderson, 3/4 of the beard now gone, and placed his hands on Anderson’s shoulders. “Babe.. what’s going on? I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Anderson mumbled something but Hotch couldn’t make sense of it.

"Say again, please?"

"The… Y-you’re… shaving."

"… And?"

"Why?"

Hotch looked at Anderson, not entirely grasping why his husband seemed so upset that he’d shaved.

"Because… I don’t know. I just decided to. Why? Why is me shaving so upsetting?"

Anderson sighed, breaking eye contact as he did. “I… I just really like your beard. Like, really really like it. Sorry, liked.”

Hotch followed Anderson’s line of sight, biting the inside of his cheek when he saw he was glaring at the razor.

"I didn’t know you were such a fan of it."

"Are you kidding?!" Anderson balked at him. "Aaron, I’ve been all over you the past week and a half - more than I usually am. I fell UP the stairs because I was staring at the beard - at you - in your office. That beard had control over me."

"I, uh, had no idea."

"Evidently."

"Are you really this upset? I mean, I can always grow it back…"  
Anderson looked at him, stroking the soft skin of Hotch’s freshly shaved cheek. He moved his arms to circle Hotch’s middle.

"I think, given a few days of grieving, I can live with it," Anderson said, sighing dramatically.

"I’m glad you’ll be able to put up with my face," Hotch joked, flinching when Anderson pinched his side.

"You know what I mean."

"I could keep the last strip of the beard that’s on my cheek, if that helps."

"Uh… no, you’re good. Just consult me before you do undertake such serious decisions. It’s things like this that keep divorce lawyers in business."

"I’ll keep that in mind," Hotch said and let Anderson go when he handed him the razor back, and continued shaving.

With one last longing look, Anderson tuned and left, counting down the days ‘til Hotch’s beard would make a return.


End file.
